Since there have been two raccoons in my yard for the past few weeks - destroying the tomatoes, my flower garden, and trying to break into the coop - I have no choice but to get rid of my chickens. They'll be going to a nice ranch though, so it's not all bad.


Ebony, Lucy (the leader), and Showtime (rotisserie)


Ebony enjoying the shade of the pomegranate tree.


Apples!


Showtime can haz apple?


Just standing there as usual, while everyone else eats. I raised a smart chicken!

Actor Paul Newman dies at age 83



Paul Newman was my hero :'( "He rebelled against conventional casting that tried to turn him into a pretty-boy alternative to Marlon Brando and James Dean. He became known as an introspective and nonconformist performer -- a perfect anti-hero idol for the socially rebellious 1960s and 1970s. In many of Newman's best films -- "The Hustler," "Hud," "Harper," "Cool Hand Luke," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Sting," "Slap Shot," "The Verdict," "Nobody's Fool" and "The Color of Money" (for which he won the Oscar) -- he played amoral rats, genial louts, self-destructive idealists, drunkards and has-beens. Some of his characters redeem themselves by being defeated or killed, and others just continue bumming along...

"With profits from Newman's Own, he gave more than $250 million to charities and social welfare organizations. He joked that his salad dressings and pasta sauces earned more than his films." I will continue supporting Newman's Own. RIP, Paul.

The California State Fair was really awesome. We went on Saturday which was extremely hot, but enjoyable nonetheless. I took far more pictures of the animals at the petting zoo than anything else, but we were able to view many different events. One of my favorites was the chef challenge in which Chef Evans of Evan's Kitchen won! Everyone in the audience got to sample each chef's meal which was really good. Other highlights included the sea lions show, the bunnies, birds and various farm animals, the delicious food: fried zucchini, corn dogs, funnel cake, snow cones, and a lot more. I'm hoping to go back one more time before it's over.




This is somehow a chicken.



( The petting zoo and a lot more! )

Last Sunday I finally got Art to go to Discovery Park with me. Somehow he didn't know where it was despite having lived 5 minutes away his entire life. Anyway, it was really nice despite the intense Sacramento heat. I made turkey deli sandwiches and brought fresh plums from the farmers market. After eating and relaxing we headed over the bridge to see the river up close. It was kind of muddy and for some reason packed with Mexicans. I was kind of jealous I didn't have a boat so I could ride around and blast mariachi music as well.






During work last week, a coworker and I went for a short walk. Since I work downtown literally right next to the State Capitol I decided to take some pictures. I'm glad I work downtown. There are two farmers markets during the week that I can walk to during my lunch.

I went to the fair yesterday and it was so much fun. But before I post any of those pictures, here's a bunch of random ones from the past several months. They are very out of order.


I had two weeks of "vacation" from work (state budget?) so I went back and forth between Sacramento, Santa Rosa and Concord in order to garden for family members. I have so many knots in my back.




My first attempt at Thai food... was really good.


Iranian spaghetti (w/out the steaming) and some salad :|




Art's birthday... look at what he managed to eat!


4th of July fireworks



Also, look at how dark I've gotten!!! That was two months ago, so I'm pretty much black now. Amazing.

Last night I went to the theater to see WALL-E! I liked it even better than Ratatouille, and that is a big deal. If you don't know already, WALL-E follows the romance between two robots (WALL-E and EVE) in the year 2815. The story touches on many issues, a main one being anti-consumerism. I thought it was really neat how Pixar created a movie with such a strong message about the environment (the last time this happened in a cartoon was... Fern Gully?). Interestingly, the animation wasn't as awe-inspiring as in Ratatouille. And while I am extremely fond of Remy and just food in general (thanks Mariam), it was hard not to fall in love with the forlorn, loyal and adorable Wall-E. The most amazing part about this robot is his eyes, which were modeled after binoculars. It was really crazy to see how much emotion the animators were able to depict through a robot.





Anyway, before the movie, Art and I made pizza for dinner. It was probably the least exciting pizza I've made (just diced tomatoes, mushrooms, kalamata olives, minced garlic, pepperoni, sauce and cheese) but it was so good! I also added yellow cornmeal to the bottom of the pizza dough and it came out tasting way more gourmet.

It's been a really long time since I posted any pictures.


burgers with mozzarella and spinach-arugula pesto

( And there's nine more )

Oh, hey there. I'm just hanging out in sunshine rainbow cloud land and wanted to say hello.



I think Art is here somewhere too... oh, yes of course he's in Japan. With a bunny. Just the usual.




I'd like to share with you this conversation I had on Tuesday on the way to school, when I spotted a truck labeled "MEGADUMP: From the super dump people":

M: Megadump, will you marry me?
A: So, you would be like Melody Megadump?
A: No, wait, dump would be the last named, so it'd be Melody Dump.
M: No, it'd be Mega Hosseini
A: Mega Hosseini? That'd be America's worst nightmare. Here comes Mega Hosseini!!

Trust me, this was hilarious and possibly the best thing that has happened to me all semester.

"It is longer than Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall taken together. It is over a thousand years older than the Great Wall of China as we know it today. It is of more solid construction than its ancient Chinese counterparts. It is the greatest monument of its kind between central Europe and China and it may be the longest brick, or stone, wall ever built in the ancient world. This wall is known as ‘The Great Wall of Gorgan’ or ‘the Red Snake’.

"The 'Red Snake' in northern Iran, which owes its name to the red colour of its bricks, is at least 195km long... The 'Red Snake' is unmatched in so many respects and an enigma in yet more."

http://www.archaeology.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1555&Itemid=27

[11:23] CyberWhangJok: SUSHI?!>!!?!
[11:23] ShynMobile: YES
[11:23] ShynMobile: ARE YOU HUNGARY
[11:23] CyberWhangJok: YES
[11:23] ShynMobile: SWEET
[11:23] ShynMobile: IM VOMITING UNCONTROLLABLY AS WE SPEAK
[11:24] ShynMobile: MAKIN ROOM
[11:24] CyberWhangJok: hahahaha
[11:24] CyberWhangJok: have you poopinschnickleleld?
[11:24] CyberWhangJok: if not
[11:24] ShynMobile: have not
[11:24] CyberWhangJok: do so immediately!!!!!!!!!!
[11:24] ShynMobile: RIGHT NAO
[11:24] ShynMobile: READY GO
[11:24] ShynMobile: ....
[11:24] ShynMobile: it smells

Can I have some خورش please?

Why did I watch lifetime movies all day yesterday?

Yesterday I typed "mayo" instead of "mail" when I tried to visit mail.yahoo.com. What does this mean?

Why does my neighbor park in my assigned spot? It is mine.