In Which I Post A Quiz Instead Of Composing Something Thoughtful

1. Do you like Chinese food?  Um… yes.  Gnim cha?  Grandma Eng’s dumplings?  Fay Da bakery?  I am so there.

2. How big is your bed?  Queen.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to want a King-sized bed once I move to a real house and buy real (not late modern Swedish) furniture.  Then again, that $7,000 crazy hanging bed from ABC Home and Carpet looks like a Queen.   I guess I could settle.

3. Is your room clean?  It was really clean, and then Kevin came to visit.  To be fair, though, he helped me do dishes last night, so that makes up for the floorpiles.

4. Laptop or Desktop computer? Both.  Currently there are two desktops and three laptops in my apartment.  Only one of them is not mine.

5. Favorite comedian?  Patton Oswalt.

This Is What We Epicures Mean When We Refer To Fish As “Buttery”

After a mini holiday party with my team at a bar near work, Kevin and I went off to the East Side in search of good sushi for dinner.  We were walking up First Ave., looking for a place we’d been to before, but gave up once we came across the first nice-looking restaurant, because we were ravenous.  Inside, we learned quickly that Sushi Seki is the kind of place where you have to make reservations if you want to eat anywhere near dinnertime; however, as we turned to leave, the hostess offered us the only table available before 9:30 p.m., with the stipulation that we finish our meal before the 8:00 reservation arrived.  We quickly ordered the chef’s plate for two, and I was expecting a slightly more upscale configuration of the usual Love Boat… until this absolutely stunning tray of sushi arrived.

We were predicting from the decor, the Japanese clientele, and the price that this was going to be good sushi, but once our waiter set down the elegant tray and walked us through what each piece was, and when to eat it, we realized this was going to be memorably delicious.

I Am Now Halfway To A Career As A Professional Gamer

Neverwinter Nights has been successfully installed on the new box.  Now I can learn the unbelieveably complex basic principles of Dungeons and Dragons, master naviagation by keyboard, and practice peacekeeping between the members of my virtual party of fighters by selecting the correct dialogue choice from a list.

Something tells me that I should’ve started my career with Halo instead.

I Have Partaken In Enough Fruit Plates To Protect My Children’s Children From Cancer

Despite being born into a family with no history of cancer, I have an irrational fear that I am going to be diagnosed with nine different forms of the disease in my early 30s.  I have a vague feeling, founded on a very shaky understanding of Chemistry, that free radicals may contribute to development of cancers.  And I also “know” (in that same spotty, kinda-sure way) that antioxidants are the way to fight these dangerous beasts (insert valance shell diagrams that shows how free radicals are relentlessly determined to attach themselves to benign neighboring substances). 

It therefore delights me to learn that even though I may eat a generally unbalanced diet, it is absolutely loaded with “miracle foods,” “cellular superstars,” and “antioxidant cancer busters.”  A convenient list in a recent issue of Women’s Health lauded the following foods for having tremendous free-radical-fighting abilities.  It basically covers my five major food groups (exotic fruits, berryfruits, nuts, baking spices, and Powerbar):

• Blackberries (5.746 millimoles*/serving)
• Walnuts (3.721 Mmol)
• Strawberries (3.584 Mmol)
• Coffee (2.959 Mmol)
• Raspberries (2.870 Mmol)
• Pecans (2.741 Mmol)
• Blueberries (2.680 Mmol)
• Cloves (2.637 Mmol)
• Baking chocolate (2.516 Mmol)
• Sour cherries (2.205 Mmol)
• Chocolate Powerbar (1.875 Mmol)
• Pineapple juice (1.859 Mmol)
• Guava nectar (1.858 Mmol)

Bran, mangos, broccoli, molasses, tamarind, pinto beans, and spinach also made the list.  Seriously, everything in the top 50 is a substance I would consider a “favorite food.”  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to go get an Acai Super Antioxidant beverage from Jamba Juice, loaded with delicious strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, which I will enjoy alongside a Green & Black’s 60% cacao sour cherry bar.  Diabetic shock never felt so good.

*Yes, millimoles.  My rather spotty chemistry knowledge suggests that this measurement has something to do with Avogadro’s number.  I say, let’s multiply it out and then call that the percentage of cancer-proofing you’ll get per serving.

Achieve Enlightenment With The Noble Eightcourse Meal

Last night the online team and I had dinner at Tao with a sales rep we worked with on Halls.  It was a lot of fun, and the food was quite enjoyable, from steak to sake.  We could’ve crafted a rather satisfying meal entirely from the appetizers/small plates, though… I start salivating anew when I think about those pork potstickers and duckmeat dumplings and the spicy tuna roll, sliced into thick rounds.  Mmm. 

For my main course, I had a NY strip steak, done very rare (I’ve started to use the qualifier “very” in order to emphasize that yes, I understand the meat will arrive bleeding and cool to the touch… and that is exactly how I want it).  I did wish that they offered more raw seafood dishes, though.  Since developing an unhealthfully frequent sushi habit (I am going to start attributing any weight gain to the amount of mercury building up in my blood), I no longer enjoy cooked fish.  However, steak tartar is a decent stand-in; it has the same kind of smooth and chewy texture, the rich mouthfeel of unadulterated animal flesh.  As an added bonus, it seems that raw meat kills my protein cravings even more efficiently than a cheeseburger.

We capped off the meal with a molten chocolate cake, coconut ice cream, and not one but TWO fruit plates.  (It’s not a truly luxurious dining occasion without abundant quantities of red raspberries.)  The fruit plates, loaded with mandarin oranges and berries and pineapple and perfectly ripe lychees, were topped with a scoop of citrusy sorbet, and a single sugared cilantro leaf–very elegant.

In addition to the fantastic food, we had a great view– we got to sit right next to the giant Buddha, in one of the cushioned booths in the back.  I was impressed with the sheer size of the restaurant… somewhat unassuming from the outside, but truly massive once you get past the coat check.

It Boots Faster Than I Expected And It Also Helps If I Wipe Down My Monitor Screen With A Microfiber Cloth

Maybe I like Vista a little bit more today.

And Baby Makes Four

I now have four computers in my apartment.  Technically, the college-era PC/Linux box ceased working shortly after I moved to the city, and the orange iBook only works when plugged into the wall, but I harbor a vague dream that one weekend I will be moved to repair and resell these sturdy, half-decade-old workhorses. 

The latest addition to the collection is a brand-new, custom-built HP Pavilion, attached to a 20″ flat panel monitor (finally), and a printer/scanner/copier/beast that eats CDs and spits them out with printed labels.  After an hour and a half of cord-wrangling, I finally got the thing plugged in and turned on last night, and then basked in its bright bluish glow until I could no longer hold my eyelids open.  Ahh, computers.

I Thought About Making Vegetable Lasagne Today But Then I Did Not

…But I did make linguine using the cutter attachment on my pasta machine, and it was pretty exciting.  Soon, I’m going to have to start experimenting with some different recipes (don’t worry, Basic Egg Pasta, you will always be my first), and along the way master a foolproof method for ravioli production.  (The last effort produced some “interesting” shapes.)

In addition to pastamaking, I did three loads of laundry and cleaned my apartment.  And that was all.  While I harbor dreams of renting a car for the weekend, driving upstate, and going BASE jumping, hanggliding, and casino-hopping, I always end up sleeping in late and settling, instead, for a Sunday full of domestic chores and shopping at Target for discounted home goods.

Halt! Partyzeit!

Alles gut zum Geburtstag zu meinem Lieblingsstatistiker!

Vroom Goes The Toothbrush (Or: Look At Me, I Would Be Awesome At Sales)

I’ve been a loyalist to my Crest Spinbrush ($6 on sale, plus $7 for brush heads every now and then) for a few years now, but in true Sara style, I recently upgraded to the Sonicare FlexCare ($180 MSRP).  (Disclosure: I got the toothbrush via a fun WOM initiative called BzzAgent; before you judge, try to remember the last time you got a $100+ product delivered to your door, free of charge, to keep, just for talking about how cool it actually is.)

Anyway.  On to the part where I approach oral care nirvana.