Sure Beats Work

Four years ago Saint Patrick’s Day fell on a Friday. By around noon it became clear to me that my friends in Los Angeles weren’t coming with plans to celebrate. So I booked a ticket for San Francisco and left with the clothes on my back. It was a drunken, dirtbag filthy weekend. I had a blast.

I wish the Chinese had holidays celebrated by drinking. Then I could be in tune with my culture instead of the guy who is looking to use other people’s cultures to binge drink. Until then I’m Irish today and Mexican on the 5th of May.

This weekend we set out to be Korean. We met Spencer and Vivian at Road to Seoul and we gorged ourselves on delicious meats while making our hair, clothes, and bodies smell like smoke. The meat there is absolutely awesome, not like the gristle and fat you get at most places.

Still feeling the need to be more Korean, we headed out to karaoke. Nore bang. Forgot we’re trying to be Korean. Singing your lungs out is always fun. I learned I can sing Lady Gaga pretty well. If only my friends would stop laughing at me I might be able to get through a whole song. Still, the highlight was this guy.

I don’t know who this mystery man is, but I know one thing. I already like him.

Google just made clear it’s stance on national broadband. I agree with Eric Schmidt and his giant company. Let’s bring our countries infrastructure up to speed and jump start our economy. Maybe then I will get my flying car…

I was running around on Sunday well aware of the time change. My laptop changed automatically as did my phone. When I came home I changed all the clocks…except my alarm clock. I always look at my laptop for work messages from my east coast associates to get a jump start on the day. Unfortunately I offset the time on my alarm clock by half an hour and only look at the minutes when I wake up so I didn’t notice my error. Now I’m riding into work going to be about forty minutes late.

I fear the ridicule waiting for me.

Most of you probably didn’t realize, but michellewoo.com was offline for approximately 5 hours in the wee hours this morning. Michelle and probably everyone on the west coast didn’t realize it was down. Someone forgot to renew the hosting. My first thought was, “She let her hosting expire again?” Then I realized I am in charge of her hosting account, because I didn’t think she would stay on top of renewing it.

I have a feeling our marriage will be highlighted by regular periods of time spent in the dark and without heat.

Although my wild animal meals come stuffed in a pork sausage casing and grilled to perfection. Also, there are fries with homemade dipping sauces and beer to wash down the sausages and fries.

After we looked at the OK Go exhibit and watched then perform their set, Michelle and I headed to Lazy Ox Canteen for a bit to eat. The food is awesome, but food bloggers must have some kind of trust fund, because holy shit that place is expensive.

I prefer my suds to come in large pitchers, not tiny fancy glasses.

These lime chili corn kernels are delicious. Way better than beer nuts.

Charred octopus.

Brick-roasted mussels. The house made sriracha sauce is incredible.

Pig ears. Yum!

So now my stomach is a bit heavier and my wallet a bit lighter. It was worth the try, but my wallet hates me.

You’ve all heard of OK Go before, maybe not by their actual band name, but you’ve seen them. They’re the band with the treadmill music video. Now it’s ringing a bell, right? Well they released another awesome video which is making it’s way across the Internet.

I got the opportunity to visit the LACMA on OK Go’s VIP guest list thanks to Michelle, who just seems to know people. OK Go had it’s video release party in the penthouse and exhibited parts of the Rube Goldberg machine used in the video.

Colorful flags and mouse traps. Pachinko machine in the background.

It’s mini OK Go!

Michelle pretending to get splattered by paint.

OK Go LEGO!

Playing glasses of water with a guitar.

Paint covered jumpsuits.

OK Go even performed a live acoustic set. They said it wasn’t originally going to be an acoustic set, but Dan was in Mexico so a full performance was impossible.

Here it Goes Again, better known as the treadmill music video song.

They covered the Pixies’ Wave of Mutilation.

The song for the video release party. This Too Shall Pass.

Streetlights, people living just to find emotion. Hiding somewhere in the night.

Since the beginning of the year I have lost about 10 lbs by cutting down on the junk I eat during work. I’m fortunate enough to have a pretty high metabolism still, so just cutting out the work day munchies has been good. I will not, however, turn into one of those people that eats nothing but rice cakes and tofu just to survive. Food is something to be enjoyed, whether it’s fine dining or just a warm, hearty meal with friends.

A terrible picture of a delicious snack. Had the Singapore Wings at Edison before heading to our actual dinner.

This is our Noodle Club meeting at a chain pho joint. Oxtail Pho! This is way better than the standard rare steak that gets overcooked and chewy.

Friday night Michelle and I decided to do something adventurous and eat somewhere new. We took it one step too far and decided to eat at a vegetarian restaurant.

We stopped into The Green Temple in Redondo Beach after reading many positive reviews about the place. What we didn’t think about was how much we love meat. The soup tasted like onion and potato water. Chicken broth is the answer here!

The veggie quesadilla was not bad at all but nothing is when you have guacamole and salsa, the meat and gravy of the veggie world.

This is supposed to be a vegetarian hamburger patty with the special tofu sauce that everyone loves on Yelp. The best thing on the plate is the broccoli. At least you know what you’re getting when you eat a vegetable. Why must vegetarians try to disguise their food to look like meat?

This is walnut loaf, and like it’s name suggests it’s meatloaf but with walnuts making up a large portion of the protein. This one has a much more meat-like texture, but you’re still very aware it’s not meat.

What this meal needed was bacon. It’s as simple as that. While I don’t think I would go back to this place again, I am still looking to try out another garden burger spot in Redondo Beach that apparently has people asking, “What kind of meat is this?”

Japanese inspired spicy cod roe spaghetti at Italian Tomato in Mitsuwa. Hot sauce and peppers added by Michelle.

Kimchi ramen with a beef bowl. A limited time special for the Mitsuwa anniversary.

Some Korean bar food at Raku Raku in Torrance after a long day. Not a bad deal at all.

I am full.  And just as important if not more, I am satisfied.

The Olympics makes it quite evident where people’s cultural identities lie. I have friends rooting for China and Korea, but it confuses me. They’re Americans! Why aren’t they cheering for America?

Growing up I never wanted to cheer for anyone other than Team USA. When I would ride bikes and race around with my brother and friends, we were always Team USA, and whoever lagged behind we called Team China.

So what’s the deal here? What’s the attachment? It’s not like any of these countries have strong historical and cultural ties to figure skating or cross country skiing.

Am I wrong to think this way? Why does it seem that everyone who is assimilated well into the American way of life passed off as “someone who lost his own cultural identity?” Why can’t I just be an American?