Going solo

I'm not sure about this whole cooking for one thing.

So Jude's on his way home to Singapore right now- probably somewhere in the middle of the Pacific en route to Japan. He has a research fellowship at the university that starts on Monday and since I'm teaching until the end of June, there was no choice but for him to go home first. It's a little odd having the house to myself, and making dinner tonight was especially strange. I literally found myself standing in front of the fridge, wondering what to cook. I came close to giving in to the urge to just have cereal- I almost never say 'no' to Honey-Nut Cheerios no matter the time of day- but in the end just threw various things together and made some fried rice. I make it a point to try to make dinner every night, not only because it saves us money, but the leftovers are an easy lunch the next day. Plus, I truly enjoy cooking for the two of us. But it just didn't feel the same tonight- I'm not sure whether it's because of the long day at school I had, the weird storm and crazy humid weather outside, or I was just plain missing my husband only after 8 hours (can someone say needy and co-dependent?...)

But I have resolved, that I shall look to the next 17 days as a challenge- to enjoy cooking for myself. To make nutritious, tasty and interesting (or at least try...) meals, just as if I were cooking for two. Just because I'm alone doesn't mean I shouldn't take care of what I put in my body or that I should no longer enjoy cooking. And to make sure I steer away from the temptation to have canned soup three days straight or to buy a huge cherry pie to eat over a week, I'm going to start taking pictures of my Meals for One, starting here. Who knows? if I embrace this whole cooking for one thing enough, it might just help a little (just a little) to ease my co-dependency issues over the next 17 days... ;)

The Korg DS10!!!

The Korg DS10 software for the Nintendo DS handheld device will be released in London this Saturday. It's kind of surprising to me that of all the handheld devices out there (from palm tops, phones etc), it's the Nintendo DS that has been getting the most lurve from the developers of music making software. And I am curious as to why ... an online digital music that I follow describes it as such:

The embarrassment of riches that is music software for the Nintendo DS continues to grow.

Also, why are all these cool music devices and software being debuted in London these days? Not enough electronic music makes in the US? Not enough DS owners? Surely I think not :)

I have one nintendo DS already ... do you think Serene will let me get 3 more like the guy in the video? ;)

J.K. Rowling's commencement speech at Harvard: "“The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination.”

(Better quality audio at this link here)

I have to admit that I am rather fond of commencement speeches. My favorite so far still is Salman Rushdie's speech to the 1996 graduating class of Bard College. Commencement speeches, although seemingly a rather hackneyed genre, requires a lot of skill in terms or writing, oration and imagination to truly inspire.

The video above highlights a rather inspiring speech from the creator of the Harry Potter series. She talks about the benefits of failure and in particular the failures that she's experienced personally. You can view the full text of her speech here Choice quotes from the speech are:

There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.
- J.K. Rowling

Birthday!

The Dude's Kaoru Betto t-shirt
Originally uploaded by ghetto of our mind

Well, no one has ever said we under-feed out guests for sure... Two days later, our counter-top does not look any different- piled high with lovely breads, hot-dog and burger buns, bags of chips, graham crackers and chocolate; and our fridge is still packed with dip, sausages, salad, sides, and leftover grilled short-ribs and chicken. Honestly, I was actually surprised we managed to make it through as much food as we did- I probably made enough to feed at least 30 people and everyone brought their own contributions to the party too which meant we probably ended up with enough food to sustain a small army battalion. But it was Jude's birthday and everyone was in a good mood, and so there was much eating to be had :) Testimony to the amount of food that was flying off the grill, Jude and I were so busy manning the grill that we barely took many pictures of the food itself (see here for photos- c'mon, admit it, 3 photos is modest by our food pornographic standards...)

Menu for the day:
- Kal bi (grilled Korean short ribs)
- Fajita chicken
- Rosemary and lemon shrimp skewers
- Sundried tomatoes chicken sausages
- Heirloom tomatoes and orzo salad
- Grilled Brun Uusto cheese with warm honey
- Mozzarella and tomato salad
- Warm artichoke dip
- Dolmas (stuffed grape leaves)
- Potato salad
- Avocado salad
- A mind-boggling variety of sides
- Tons of bread
- Brownie tart
- Banana cream pie (never was any dessert so quickly obliterated...)
- S'mores (we experimented with a fancy version this time, with hand-cut marshmallows, sugared cinnamon graham crackers and 71% dark chocolate- they were fantastic!)

Plus the added distraction of the Wii Fit, Guitar Hero and Donkey Konga, we think good fun was had by all, hungers were heartily satiated- we're sorry if the party busted anyone's diet plans, lost childhoods were reclaimed by many, and one man's 36th birthday was duly celebrated :) Yay Jude!

It's Kung Fu Panda!

Oh come on... how can anyone not want to see this movie? It's a kung-fu panda! With a sense of humour! Voiced by Jack Black! What's there not to love?? We're so watching it this weekend :)



For a loving review of the film, see here.

Have you ever been in love?

I went in fully prepared not to like it, really. I never watched the series on its first run on HBO and while I enjoy catching episodes of it now and then on TBS, I always thought that making a full-length movie out of what was entertaining- sometimes in inspired ways- in short 30-minutes doses was just going to be a prolonged fashion show at best, and a disaster at worst. I know it made huge profits at the box-office over the weekend, but critical reviews have been lukewarm; in fact, the NYT gave it a scathing review (I believe the exact words were: "the movie that she and Mr. King have come up with is the pits, a vulgar, shrill, deeply shallow — and, at 2 hours and 22 turgid minutes, overlong..."

But despite myself, despite all preconceived notions of what I was walking into, despite the fact that there were all of 5 men in the movie theatre (my husband thankfully not being one of them), and despite the fact that there were so many moments in the movie that would have made me keel over and gag from sheer absurd cheesiness in any other movie, I enjoyed Sex And The City. Thoroughly.

I mean, no one's calling this Oscar material, and unless Fashion Week has a movie category of some sort, it isn't going to win any awards. But the movie doesn't set itself up that way in the first place. Sex And The City the movie is what it is- an opportunity to recapture something about the female psyche that the series managed to tap into- hope, some might call it; empowerment, perhaps; desire, possibly, and of course, that elusive, magical thing called love. There were moments throughout the film where there was genuine emotion- sadness even- and there were enough ardent worshippers in the theatre- my friends included- who made the experience feel more like a reunion with dearly-missed old friends than an extended ad for all that is glittering and glamourous about New York (because really, do we all have friends who will help us pack our apartment bearing 2 bottles of champagne and wearing Gucci?)

I'm not saying everyone should run out and catch the movie right now and I still won't recommend it to anyone with dominant testosterones coursing through their body, but I was honestly pleasantly surprised- cheese and all- and you just might be too.

Some people are settling down, some are settling and some people refuse to settle for anything less. Than butterflies...
-Carrie Bradshaw, Sex And The City

It's done!

1. Half-way mark, 2. Warming up, 3. Coming up that nightmare of a hill, 4. With Molly, Tanya, Will and Baby Lily

I did it! Finished the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run, and in my personal best pace- 5:34min/km. My run time ended up to be 1:10 hr though because there were so many people in front of me at the starting line that I actually started running before crossing the starting line and ended up running an extra kilometer or so (yes, there were that many people ahead of me. Thousands, in fact...) And let's not mention the fact that one thing I didn't account for during training was the fact that someone sitting on the Run committee decided that it would be a good idea to have a hill in the last leg of the race. A steep hill. Like why? What were you thinking? As if running for an hour continuously isn't enough of a challenge for me... I almost passed out after that hill, which I guess slowed me down a little too. But whatever the case may be, I'm just glad I completed and in fairly decent time too :) My feet are killing me right now though, and my toes- for some reason- have been mangled into a blistery mess, but with that is a perverse sense of self-satisfaction which makes the pain worth it.

I completed a 10K-run last week during a training run, but running today was really different. For one, running in a large group is a huge motivation- I tried not to let the people running by affect me but I suspect that that had a large part to play in me running my best time, just me subconsciously trying to keep up. Then there are the strangers cheering you on everywhere, meeting up with friends who were just there to soak up the invigorating atmosphere, those couple of guys playing music for us on their front porch as we ran by, and most importantly, your wonderful friends who were either cheering for you along the way (thank you Rick, Emilee and Ursus for coming!) or screaming your name as you approached the finishing line (Serena and Liz so rock!). And of course, there's Jude who woke up crazy early this morning to accompany me to the run, taking pictures along the way, and being my all-round awesome one-man cheering team :)

I think I'm going to keep up the running routine just because I know it's doing my body good and I don't want all that training to go to waste. Like my sister suggested, maybe a 10K run every one to two weeks just to challenge my body a little, but apart from that, I think I'll go back to 4-mile (6.5K) runs three times a week. Any more or longer and my toes might really just give up on me and fall off... ;)

Food splurge

I don't think we've ever spent so much on food in one day. Rick and Emilee were making a Costco run today and invited us to come along. Since we don't have a membership to the wholesale mega-store and we're having a party for Jude's birthday next week, we thought it would be a good idea to go and see what we can buy in bulk for the BBQ. After an hour or so of walking along aisles of giant boxes of cereal and gallon-sized cans of olive oil, we emerged with:
- 2-lbs of shrimp (for grilled rosemary-skewered shrimp)
- 3-lbs of beef short ribs (for kalbi)
- 3-lbs of sundried tomato and mozzarella sausages
- 1 large pack of baby portobellas (for grilled veggie kabobs)
- 5-lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. We'll probably keep this for ourselves- they're a really versatile cut of meat so we have no worries going through them at all.
- 2 kegs of yummy Virgil root beer. Yes, you read that right: kegs. Of root beer. It was so hilarious we just couldn't resist :)
- 2 bottles of Naked mango juice
- 2-lbs of cheese-spinach raviolis (this will probably feed us for several meals...)
- a large box of stuffed grape leaves
- an entree-tray of Chicken Alfredo pasta for dinner tonight so I can carbo-load before the run in the morning

And then, when I went to get my race packet for tomorrow, I found in it a coupon for $5 off any $35 purchase from Whole Foods. Since we had to return some cans from there anyway, we allowed ourselves the indulgence of shopping at Whole Foods again for the second time this month. With much restraint, we still ended up with:
- 1-lb of white peaches
- a package of Brun-Uusto cheese, a baked cheese that we'll throw on the grill next week and serve with warm honey and rosemary or maybe a fruit preserve. There was a tasting of the cheese and it was served with warm orange blossom honey- soooooo gooooood...
- a jar of eggplant and tomato pasta sauce
- carton of orange juice
- half-lb of bacon (because everything just tastes better with bacon)
- carton of Odwalla Blueberry B Monster juice (extravagant I know, but we told ourselves that the coupon's paying for this one)
- 2 grapefruits
- a rosemary plant. The smell was too intoxicating to resist (there's still a lovely scent lingering on my fingers...) and I figured since I was going to use the stems of the rosemary to skewer the shrimp for the party, it's probably more worth our while to get an entire plant. We're not sure if we're going to transplant it into our little garden patch, but it might not survive the winter and I do want to have the plant last as long as possible. So now, I can have fresh rosemary whenever I want :) Sweet!

Another 8-month wait...

[Warning: some spoilers ahead...]

So let's count how many times I've blogged about Lost ever since we started watching the series: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and now ten (plus nominal mentions here and here). And is it any wonder? I adored Buffy- it will always be my TV first-love (okay, actually, that accolade might have to go to Northern Exposure), but Lost is a whole other dimension altogether (and I mean that in a myriad of ways...). I love that it demands something of me- a kind of commitment if you will- to its intricate narrative and tightly woven plot. If you missed something in Season 1, a conversation you're watching in Season 4 isn't going to have the same resonance; find that scene familiar? It's probably a mirror of something that happened a season and a half ago. A mystery you had long thought was never going to be addressed suddenly unravels before you like you had only seen it last week. Lost is not a forgiving show to obsess over- it insists on your devotion to every minute detail. And I am its willing slave.

It would be pompous to declare that I understand everything about Lost's mythology- honestly, I couldn't care less if I never find out the provenance of the four-toed statue or who/what Smokey is. And I'm OK with not catching ever single reference to Nietzsche, Phillip K. Dick or social-contract theory. But if I wanted to, I could. For an hour every week, a TV show doesn't insult my intelligence and actually expects me to engage with it, demands that I invest myself in its intricacy and complexity. Some people say it's too pseudo-cerebral, that the writers are just making things up as they go along and throwing whatever philosophical and literary psycho-babble they can conjure into the mix. To them, I say this: I'd much rather spend an hour deconstructing illusory references to dead philosophers than watch a man wearing a crown on his head and a clock around his neck pick the next love of his life from a bevy of self-absorbed, narcissistic, half-naked buxom women. Besides, I enjoy a relaxing, no-brainer experience in front of the TV as much as the next person and that's what Comedy Central, the Food Network and Bravo are for.

And even if all the mythology doesn't appeal to you, there's plenty of action, drama and downright good acting to go around. For one, Sun's tragic hysteria in reaction to her husband's (apparent?) death last night was enough to reduce me to tears. And there has never been a more dramatic car reversal when the action picked up exactly from where the Season 3 finale ended and Kate returned to confront Jack about having to go back to the island. Don't even get me started on Sawyer's sacrifice or Ben's all-round awesomeness... And Locke in the coffin?? WTH!!!

See here for an excellent Slate article on why the fourth season of Lost is the best one yet.

Tune of the week: Don & Drew - My sister's cat

Although this is an ad for Podcast.sg, I have to say that this qualifies as my favourite tune of the week :) You can bet I'll be humming or singing this over the weekend (and to the annoyance of Serene ;) )

If you are familiar with Mandarin, you will recognize the tune as a common children's song. 10,000pts to Andrew Crothers for performing in Mandarin, and another 10,000pts to Don Richmond for his heavy metal/rock interpretation of the tune. Love it!

Symbiosis

It's 4 days to the Ann Arbor-Dexter run and Serene Koh ran her first ever 10K today! Yup, that's right, I rock... :) 57:02 minutes, 678 calories and 5:41 minutes/km. Not shabby at all if I should say so myself. And I figured if I can do this in the 3pm hot sun, I can do on a cool Sunday morning. I wasn't planning on running the full 10K today really, but by the time I got to 9.5K, I was like, I've come so far, what's another 500m? And so I did. I'm planning one more run on Friday- which may or may not be another 10K- and I should be ready for Sunday. Under an hour. That's all I'm aiming for.

It's amazing, really, what your body can do when you apply yourself to a task- who knew 6 weeks ago that my body's capable of running continuously for more than 45 minutes? Like my dad says, it's all about slowly increasingly the mileage. If you can do 6K, you can do 7K. If you can do 7K, 8K's a cinch, etc... The other thing that has really helped me is yoga. It's made me a better breather (yes, there *is* such a thing), and as a result, a stronger runner. It's also strengthened my calves and quads (those warrior poses kick major ass!) which really helps too. I've come to look forward to yoga a lot, and it's become more than just about toning muscles in places I didn't know I had muscles to tone in the first place. In that hour of sustained concentration and focus, I become acutely aware of my body and its different dimensions- my posture, alignment, breathing, reach, strength, center, etc, and I find that kind of self-awareness very calming. Plus it's all me- the poses don't rely on machines or weights- it's what my body is capable of and comfortable doing at that moment. I'm not into the more spiritual aspects of yoga (although I love that my instructor sings her ohms) but I have to admit that as tough as it sometimes is (beads of sweat dripping onto my yoga mat probably indicates a fairly decent workout), the deep burn that comes with yoga is actually kinda of cathartic, "cleansing", if you will- both mentally and physiologically- and that's something I find deeply alluring. The fact that my running helps my yoga (it builds the stamina I need to maintain those sustained downward dogs) as much as yoga is helping my running just makes it all the more perfect.

Namaste :)

"...not as easy as it used to be."

[Spoiler alert!- don't read on if you don't want details about the movie. Not that it would make a difference, really...]

[photo from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull imdb site]

It made me sad. Kinda like seeing an old friend fade away in spurts and gasps rather than as a comforting, nostalgic memory of good times past. Until today, I remembered the Indy movies as wonderful adventure stories- always witty, rollicking fun and well, exciting, for the lack of a better word. I'd like to think that I am still capable of being awed, and that it's not age that has made me feel any less for a favorite movie character from my childhood.

Honestly, the new Indiana Jones movie was terrible. Downright awful. And it made me sad. Oh right, I said that already. But it did... I knew going in that it wasn't going to be anything like the Indy movies I had grown up with and loved, but nothing prepared me for how bad it was. I expect more from Lucas and Spielberg. The story was weak, the production quality was oddly uneven- one might even say shoddy, and Harrison Ford really looked like he was going to bust an artery. And inter-dimensional beings? Aliens? Surviving a nuclear explosion by hiding in a fridge? A UFO??!! I lost count of how many times throughout the movie where I went, "Oh, come ON!..."

I do have to say that it was nice seeing Karen Allen again- I really liked her in Raiders of the Lost Ark. And hearing the familiar strains of the theme song always makes me smile- bad movie or not. But apart from that, the movie was just disappointing. It was like they were trying so hard to recreate the allure of the original movies by upping the ante with the CG-effects that they forgot that what made those early Indy movies so great was just good ol' adventure storytelling, authentic action sequences (which you just can't compensate with special effects overload), and a cast that looked like they were having fun and not just doing a job, or trying to revive a career. I felt like I was watching a bad "The Mummy" sequel, except without Brendan Fraser.

Like I said, it made me sad. And I will say that, again and again...

Nom Nom Nom Nom?

Just saw this photo on the BBC news website and thought it eloquently exemplifies the latest in Internet speak - "Om nom nom nom" - a sound of ravenous eating made popular by the Sesame Street's Cookie Monster. Also check out this endearing interview between NPR's Elizabeth Blair and Cookie Monster.

Weekend in Chicago

[click for photos]

I've never done more in 30 hours- attended a baseball game, watched a movie (not too impressed by movie, though), got discombobulated by a city's renovating train system, ate ridiculously good tacos, had a dozen warm donuts for breakfast (not by myself of course), took an architectural boat tour, fell in love with a neighbourhood, tasted mead for the first time, and again, heedlessly bought more books we might not have time to read... a.k.a. Jude and I spent the weekend in Chicago. And as always, it was glorious :)

Tunes of the week - Very 80s

I decided to try out muxtape to share my music online. Check out my very first effort below:

Gong - Love Is How You Make It

Cut Copy - Unforgettable Season

M83 - You, Appearing

Portishead - Threads

The Clash - Lost In The Supermarket

Scritti Politti - Absolute

Titus Andronicus - Upon Viewing Brueghel's "Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus"

It just so happens that the music I am listening to happens to be from the 80s or very inspired by it. Can't help it ... it's the era that I spent my formative years in :) Also, it just so happens that the indie kids these days are in love with all things 80s. So I can't complain. Anyway, to listen to the above tracks, just head on to this URL:

http://jyew.muxtape.com

Validation

So I defended my dissertation proposal on Friday. Finally. Although "defending" is probably too self-important a word; it really was more of a chat, honestly. In fact, one of the nice things that my adviser said to me after the meeting was how it was more of an intellectual discussion between four colleagues than it was me trying to convince three professors why my dissertation topic is worth spending the next year and a half on. The thing is, ever since I decided on my research topic almost two years ago, I've been pretty much on my own with this study. It's a novel way of researching national identity, particularly because I'm working so closely with young children, and the interdisciplinary nature of my work isn't always of the kind that is done in my school; which means besides my professor and Jude, there are few people I share thoughts about my work with.

But on Friday, I was forced to pull my ideas into a coherent whole and present it to a group of people whose hands hold my academic future. I had to justify why this research is important not just because I say it is, but also as a significant contribution to the field of education, political science and childhood sociology. It wasn't a public session, but it was the first time I was presenting my work formally to people who weren't bound by any reason to have to be nice to me. In fact, a dissertation proposal defense was literally designed for you to "defend" your work against attacks on its merit. To say that I was nervous is an understatement. Apart from fretting about what I was going to say, I also spent half and hour figuring out what outfit to wear- the first time I've ever done that since we moved here. In fact, the last time I worried so much about what to wear out of the house was our wedding...

At some point 15 minutes into the meeting though, something about the tone of the meeting changed, and I think that's when I began feeling like it became more of a chat than a defense. I was showing my committee some pictures I had collected from children when I was home in Singapore in summer last year, and sharing some preliminary findings I had to support my study. One of them sat back in her chair, took off her glasses and almost sighed. What she said next, I will carry with me as inspiration during those moments over the next year and half where I will invariably feel like giving up:

"And that, Serene, is what you will tell Terry Gross when she interviews you about your book on NPR."

At that moment, my adviser beamed at me with so much pride, it was as if I had finished writing my dissertation already. She didn't say a Pulitzer or a Nobel, but she didn't have to say anything to begin with. And Fresh Air is good enough for me :) It felt quite wonderful, really. To be validated about something you've carried almost as your own private precious possession for so long. This is an original piece of work, my contribution to academia, me putting out into the ether something that did not exist before. And that people other than myself and those closest to me think that it is valuable work too was at that moment a little startling to me. Throughout the next hour or so, my committee was nothing but enthusiastic and encouraging. They seemed genuinely excited about my work and I remember, if nothing else, feeling a vague sense of euphoria :)

I'm skipping a little ahead of myself, of course- I haven't even started data collection for the study yet. But that feeling- this feeling I have right now- is what I was hoping to have, but didn't expect to really achieve when I first settled on this topic. A kind of strange stewardship, if you will, over my work. With the encouragement and support I've been getting from Jude, my friends and family, and now validation from my committee, I'm truly inspired to craft the best work I'm capable of, and put it out there. It's not going to heal the world, make it a better place, *for you and for me and the entire human race*, but it'll be my small contribution. And maybe, that's enough for now.

Sad Kermit

My jaws are aching. I almost peed in my pants. And I almost spit coffee all over my computer. All thanks to Dark Orpheus and Sad Kermit.

Honestly, this is one of the most brilliantly funny things I've come across in a while (although I'm sure that was not the original intent of the creators). And these people are clearly very talented too, so it's not like funny for funny's sake. It's Kermit re-visioned as an emo, melancholic, acoustic guitar-playing manic-depressive. Basically, it's Kermit as Nick Drake, if you will. This ain't no Rainbow Connection, people. In fact, if you go to the MySpace page, you'll see "Rainbow Disconnection" (the original played in morose, minor chord. You realize how sad the lyrics actually are and start wondering how it could ever have been sung as a happy song to begin with...) My particular favorite is "Creep"- I only narrowly averted the potential caffeine-induced computer disaster because of it. Thom Yorke would weep.

Sad Kermit also does Elliot Smith's "Needle in the Hay" and parodies this suicide scene from The Royal Tenenbaums.

I wish I was special
You're so f***ing special
But I am green
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here
I don’t belong here
- Sad Kermit doing Radiohead's "Creep"

The Dark Knight- new trailer

Have I mentioned how much I'm waiting for the movie to open? Have I? Have I? Oh right, I have.

[click poster for new *freaking awesome!* HD trailer]

If Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker is as good as these clips suggest — and my brain starts popping every time I see his deliriously committed, smeared-makeup personification of pure, nut-job Evilness — then we’ve got a potential Best Supporting Actor nominee that will be much more than just a sentimental gesture to a cherished, departed actor.
-Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly

First weekend off

For the first time in months (except that weekend when we drove to Wisconsin), I took the weekend COMPLETELY off work- from 3.30pm Friday till right now (approx. 11.38pm EST Sunday), I turned on my computer only to check my email (without replying to any), to write a blog post about Leopold's, and to play Scrabulous.

Friday
- Met Rick and Emilee after school to go the opening sale at the new REI in A2. Jude got himself a sweet pair of winter boots at 20% off. Nice score!
- Had deliriously good cheesy biscuits at Red Lobster. Would go there just for the biscuits alone. Searched online for replica recipe- apparently, Bisquick is key...
- Watched Iron Man. Cheesy plot but whiplash script. Robert Downey Jr. was only one worth watching. He was clearly just acting himself. Note to self: witnessing beginning of (empowered) women-free zone, otherwise known as the summer movie season.

Saturday
- Woke up early (unheard of!) for 7K run. 3K more to target. Training's been going well. Feeling stronger, but a little hard maintaining the under 6-minute/K pace.
- Made buttermilk pancakes and bacon for brunch- had to make run worthwhile.
- Watched mindless Saturday afternoon TV.
- Napped.
- Played Guitar Hero for a couple of hours (Beat Slash at Battle and we played "Welcome to the Jungle" together"- I think we rock...)
- Took a walk to the Asian grocery store for a bottle of black vinegar. And Thai instant noodles. Yumm...
- Got a visit from my friend, Deborah her husband, Jonathan who are thinking of moving into family housing in the Fall. Drank root beer and talked about noisy vs. saintly neighbours.
- Joined Libby, Bill, Jolie and Adrienne for dinner in Dexter. Thank you for some good food, North Point- we will be back.
- Met Dan at Leopold's where we bid farewell to the pub while enjoying the phenomenal live performance of Great Lakes Myth Society.
- Blogged about the performance.
- Fell asleep to re-runs on Comedy Central.

Sunday
- Woke up to empty bed and remembered that Jude's had left for Metro Grand Spring Tour, a 25-, 40- or 60-mile bike ride through the Metro Parks. I was just too much of a wimp to wake up early two days in a row to exercise. Go Jude!
- Made up for not going to the MGST by biking to the gym for resistance training. Note to self: go to the gym on Sundays more- no nubile female undergrads to make you feel fat and no one to fight you for weights.
- Had leftovers from dinner for lunch. North Point- not just good, generous too.
- Enjoyed the gorgeous sunny day by going downtown for a bite with Jude because apparently, biking 25-miles makes a man hungry ;) Tried Eastern Flame on Ashley and Liberty. Definitely not going back.
- Supported local merchants (or so we told ourselves) by buying a shirt from Sam's Clothing Store and a new happy shower curtain from Acme Mercantile.
- Visited the new Two Wheel Tango on Jackson (told you we were supporting local merchants today). Jude needed to switch his trail tires to street tires since he realized he was now doing more road biking. Will see how much he likes his new tires before deciding whether to switch mine out too.
- Spent an hour in Target buying random things even though only planned on getting a box fan in anticipation of crazy hot summer to come. Things that ended up in our cart: box fan, pack of running socks, contact lens solution, 3 cans of soup, pack of frozen cod, and four-pack of pomegranate Izze.
- Napped (I love that I guiltlessly napped two days in a row...)
- Ate dinner in front of TV.
- Watched the George Lopez special on Comedy Central and fell over ourselves in laughter :)
- Blogged

I might just make this an early night and go to bed before 1am. And that would really mean I took the weekend off! :)

Last call @ Leopold's

Jude and I bid farewell to a good friend tonight. A friend that's been with us through countless birthdays, grad student visiting days and orientations; whose generous picnic tables will be sorely missed for "research meetings"; whose phenomenal jukebox plays better music than most radio stations we know; and it was the place where I had my first delicious- and till now, only- Pisco. Todd Leopold announced in February that Leopold Brothers is leaving A2 for Denver:

We’re moving our distilling operations to Denver, Colorado this spring, and closing our bar in Ann Arbor at the start of summer.

Our lease expires in the summer, and shockingly (note heavy sarcasm), our landlords asked for an obscene amount per month in rent, so we’re done. This move has zero to do with the economy, or sales levels, as we are coming off of our strongest year of sales at the pub since we’ve been open. We moved here in 1998, and since that time our rent has tripled, and our new landlords want even more….because, of course, that’s what the market will bear.

I hope to run into you all before we leave, and I wish Ann Arbor the best. The business climate isn’t one that we can survive, however.
- taken from ann arbor is overrated

To send the beloved brewpub off with a bang, there will be a performance there every weekend throughout the month of May. We were lucky today to bask in the boisterous awesomeness that is Great Lakes Myth Society, a local band made semi-big. When Leopold's first opened almost ten years ago, they were among its first regular customers and began playing shows there thereafter. So it was rather apt for them to start off the big farewell to this Ann Arbor institution.

Goodbye Leopold's. We'll miss you...