wanderments of a whistling cat

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:26:00 +0000

i think an apology is overdue, for my prolonged absence. it is not so much my laziness even though it is part of the problem, but mostly a lack of excitement in life--i really don't think anyone would care how many potatoes i peeled for tuesday's dinner, or how many pieces of junk mail i shredded on a particular sunday, now would they?

lately i've had a couple very exciting months. here are some pictures from taiwan. i realize that most of them are of food. i don't think i can help it. taiwan, perhaps i shouldn't over-generalize, but at least during the time we were there, was cold and rainy. i'm a mild case of s.a.d. and the only thing that had cheered me up was food. it was all i could hope for that i was able to button my jeans by the time we left.

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noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:33:00 +0000

** i'm reading a very good book: china in ten words by yu hua (余华), one of the best -- if not the best -- chinese writer of today. it's all you need in order to understand contemporary china.

** speaking of books, i've launched a new project: re-reading murakami haruki (村上春树) in chinese translation. i feel the stories are more readable this way. they seep deeper. not that the english translations were bad. no. it just that there was always that 'foreigness' in english. this seems to go away under the shared vagueness between japanese and chinese. i like it better this way. fragmentation is no longer a grammatical fault, but a necessity in expressing the bare minimum. it's darkly romantic.

** speaking of japan: it wasn't the smartest idea we ever came up with when we decided to visit tokyo and kyoto right after taiwan. in taiwan everywhere you look there are food--yummy food, and they are cheap--cheaper than in hong kong, which i had not thought possible. japan was on the other end of the scale, perhaps food is too sacred to be laid out on the street and sold cheaply. i nearly broke my bank there (i haven't had a steady income for over a year by now, if you recall.) we were lucky that the shop where we had shabu-shabu accepted credit card, which was, surprisingly, an exception rather than the norm. it was the best beef in the world! the marbled loin literally melted in my mouth. ... ... in case you are planning to visit those far away islands, i suggest you go to tokyo first (i hear it is the most expensive city in the whole wide world), then go to taiwan. you will feel like the richest person in the world.

** speaking of income (this is truly a stream-of-conscious post, yes?): i got a job in shanghai with a blood-sucking pharmaceutical company. to cut cost they are moving a fair amount of operation--mostly the part that has to do with numbers--from its fatherland to china and india. so in the coming months i'll be making an across-pacific move.

** along that note: i have two more years of subscriptions of the new yorker and another year of atlantic. i don't think they are the kind of periodicals that chinese officials would welcome within their borders with open arms. so if you want them, let me know, they are yours to keep.

** last but not the least, here is wishing everyone a very happy chinese new year!

新年快乐，万事如意！

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noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 21:47:00 +0000

i spent the last seven nights at seven different places: starting from virginia down to north carolina further south to gerogia then back to virginia and up to pennsylvinnia and now in massachusetts. it has to be record for me.

i was supposed to come up here to help my sister to take care of her terminally ill dog, whom, as it turned out, was in so bad a state that she had to be put down a week ago, before i could start my way up. it was quite a blow for all of us. pearl had had cancer for sometime, but it seemed to be under control. so none of us was mentally prepared for such a fast downward spiral all of a sudden. she was an ambassador of good wills, the gentlest thing i've ever known.

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noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 02:44:00 +0000

we wandered to sheperdtown in west virginia a few weeks ago. it was a quiet and sleepy town, especially so when it was a hot day. we strolled through the main street, and came upon a coffee place called lost dog, a very unique place. it was stuffed to the brim with artifacts, art works, books, and, naturally, tubs of coffee beans and jars of tea leaves. it was stimulating, and woke me up from a aimless stroll right away. it screamed "pay attention" with all its distractions. i would spend all my days there had i lived in that town. maybe i'll move there for the summer. why not.

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noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 07:30:00 +0000

i like photograph mirrors and glass panels. they confuse what's real and what's imagined. patterns and repetitions are also my favorite subjects. they always make me think of infinity and eternity.

here are some of my impressions of chicago.

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noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:11:00 +0000

we came back late last sunday night--a week before yesterday. i took four days to recover from the hectic visit to chicago. last friday morning the cats saw us packing again. we drove to scranton and spent the weekend at frank's parents'. i can't help but saying this again: they are such lovely people. after so many years they still joke, tease, laugh with each other, listening to each other's stories attentively even though i'm sure they've heard them many times. i'm so jealous of frank for having such adorable parents.

while in pennsylvania we did quite a bit of hiking and jogging and the weather was cool and perfect. now every bit of me is sore. a week from now we will be in atlanta running the peachtree 10k. it's so hot and humid down there around this time of the year and the course has many what i'd call hills. i'm never able to improve at this race, so i guess it doesn't really matter whether i'll recover by then or not. worse to worst i'll walk my way to the end. the attraction of the race--to me at least--is fat matt's barbecue ribs. over the years it's become a ritual to reward ourselves there after the run. i think right now i deserve that reward this very moment.

i'll need to get the laundry done so we will have fresh underwear to pack on friday. poor cats. they will have to look after themselves for another five days. i promise i'll give them a soothing bubble bath when all the summer travels are logged.

and i hope you all out there are enjoying the summer as well!

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noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:53:00 +0000

i'm leaving for chicago for a few days: please excuse my absence for the time being. but then, it's not like you aren't used to me not updating on things.

meanwhile, may i recommend a book for you to enjoy? lynne truss's eats, shoots & leaves is a gem of hilarity. this may seem hard to believe since it's a book about punctuation--apostrophes in particular. well, it is. read it, whether you need to brush up on the use (or over-use) of dashes and parentheses (the way i do,) or just need something for a light reading, this is the one you want. as a bonus, you get a forward written by mr. frank mccourt (of angela's ashes), which is not to be outdone by ms. truss in the humor department.

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here is my cat daisy, self-appointed guardian of books that afternoon. she seeks out the camera the way her brother luigi seeks out napping opportunities.

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 02:18:00 +0000

as i stepped into the forty-first year of my life, i found myself happy. it might be a delusion; i might be fooling myself, seeing the situation i've landed in. but as long as it lasts i'll enjoy it.

frank cooked me some delicious barbecue shrimp, one of my favorite things, and incidentally one of the least healthy stuff i ever laid my fingers on. to make it you need butter, shrimp (heads on), butter, lots of black pepper, butter, paprika, garlic, butter, butter, worcestershire sauce, butter, lemon juice, salt, and butter. it has nothing to do with a grill or barbecue sauce.

and i made meself an ultimate chocolate cake. it may not look much, but it's sure heavenly. there is chocolate in the dry ingredient, chocolate in the wet ingredient, and chocolate in the iceing. i think i might have to spend the rest of my 40's on a permanently diet.

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 16:50:00 +0000

thought i left them behind in one of the unpacked boxes in my sister's attic. it's always thrilling to uncover a misplaced item, or in this case, items.

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:23:00 +0000

frank made me a book holder, using sycamore, walnut, and ebony with his bare hands (plus some tools i'd imagine), so i can focus on my reading while eating.

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 08:10:00 +0000

i was reading an article in yesterday's papers. it has to do with food--southern comfort food, how it is expected to be making a trend in 2011. i was being so good, diet-wise, for nearly two days. now i'm all of a sudden hungry--starving, as if there is a bottomless pit in my stomach. i'm craving for seafood gumbo, fried chicken, andouille sausages, barbecue shrimp, banana pudding, fried catfish, pecan praline, raw oysters, beignets, roast beef po'boy, sweet potato fries, shrimp remoulade, boudins, grilled chicken liver, anything with crawfish, root beer, southern comfort, southern pecan (the beer), mango freeze, sazerac, barbecue ribs, muffuleta, snowballs, ... ... ... ...

not much can be done for the time being. maybe i'll read tom fitzmorris's cookbook, new orleans food. ... maybe i'll cook tom's book. i mean his recipes. yeah, that sounds like an idea.

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by the way, did i tell you about my espresso brownies? there are pecans in them. it came out perfect, really espresso-y. i'll let you on the recipe one day.

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:56:00 +0000

i followed this recipe on cookology.com and made two loaves of italian rustic bread. they turned out really good. yum! there is nothing like fresh out of oven bakery.

the recipe is not as difficult as it is time consuming--you have to check on the dough every hour or so whether you are using a bread machine or not. so unless you are sure you'll be home for a good part of a day, you probably don't want to tackle it. otherwise, happy baking :)

on the book-end of things

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 02:36:00 +0000

i just finished the sisters brothers, a novella by a talented young writer, patrick dewitt. it is a pseudo westerner set in the gold rush era california. the brothers, charilie sisters and eli sisters are hit men working for a powerful figure known only as the commodore. their assignment? to rid of a hermann kermit warm. for what they do not know. nor care.

the story is narrated by eli sisters, the younger of the two. as they pursue their marked man, eli becomes contemplative, wondering about the life he is leading, and the price he has paid to be close to his brother charlie, whom he's loved and looked up to since he was a child.

i say the book is pseudo western since there is nothing hard core as in a john wayne or a clint eastwood. on the surface it is eli's introspective examination, but just underneath it we sense author's satire about a society led by greed. the language is light and humorous, making it an easy read for someone like me who has a limited vocabulary.

i'd give the book 4 out of 5 stars. there are a few details in the book that are far fetched and unrealistic. besides that it makes a perfect summer read. get it before someone else grabs it from the shelf of your local library.

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Sun, 22 May 2011 13:03:00 +0000

my thighs shook

with every step i took

in the newly acquired

summer shorts

to provide a better look

to those follow behind

lettuce and tomato

are all i'll ever cook

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Thu, 19 May 2011 05:27:00 +0000

after months of moving about, i've finally settled down, and have settled into a routine of domestic life. i get up around noon every day, followed by checking email, checking mail, dealing with the minor details that make up the bulk of our lives. weather permits we'd go for a run in late afternoons. after dinner we'd watch tv, chat, catch up with the current affairs online. after the late night pundit shows all electronic devices will be turned off. during the quiet hours of post midnight it's my time to do some soul searching (and often find nothing). around four in the morning i'd give up and go to bed.

i haven't been going out much. there is really nothing to do and no where to go. this is a standard suburban life. things do happen in the nearest big town. but the getting there costs as much as, if not more than, the effort of the attending of an activity itself. so unless it's something really interest, and it happens to occur on a weekend, we take comfort in the fact that our absence will not be noticed.

no wonder i'm baking away every day and always planning what to eat next. i need to build additional cabinets just to store all the cookies i've made. and perhaps extra yardage of skins too to cover up all the fat that's building up on my belly.

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meanwhile, behind my back luigi and daisy might be plotting a grand escape.

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Tue, 17 May 2011 01:31:00 +0000

our thoughts are with all those who live along the spillway and who have to give up their homes to save baton rogue and new orleans. the sacrifice they make will not go unappreciated.

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inspired by kat, thought i'd spend monday in a true new orleans style. that is to say doing laundry while letting red beans simmer on the stove. i even made corn bread to give it a full southern flare.

here is the cornbread recipe i found on allrecipes.com. it is so delicious and very easy to make. no wonder it got over 2,000 five-star ratings.

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Tue, 10 May 2011 00:05:00 +0000

** i'm reading stephen king's on writing. he comes off funny, witty, and very wise. it puzzles me why he doesn't write more funny stuff. i checked out hearts in altantis. is this his only non-scary book?

** i called taiwan economic and culture representative to inquire about travel visa. a very friendly young voice answered the phone. first thing first, i volunteered the most crucial piece of information, my birth place. it is a highly sensitive geographical region as far as taiwan government is concerned. a short but noticeable silence ensured. then the young voice had an idea.
"how long have you been to america?"
"20 years."
"oh in that case there's no problem." he said, "it usually takes two weeks. you would need the following before coming to our office ... ..."
i'm so happy that 20 years of living on the right side of the pacific has cleansed me of whatever the wrong education i had received. tomorrow i'll go to town again. i must get up early to make time for the library of congress, a brilliant place i was told.

** on the home front baking continues. the wedding cookies turned out superb. i added a measure of cayenne pepper to make it thoroughly mexican. it worked. the almond cookies taste pretty good but not like those you get from chinese restaurants. i think it's because i used the wrong fat. i didn't have lard, which the recipe called for. and not knowing where to get it in this squeaking clean suburbia, i used butter. next time, no cutting corners.

** today being monday, i'm faced with the usual dilemma of flipping between anthony bourdain and top gear. now i understand why they offer us split screen tv. so we can watch both shows simultaneously. or neither at all.

** hope you all had a productive day. memorial day is just around the corner. hang in there.

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Sat, 07 May 2011 05:38:00 +0000

now the cats had recovered from the trauma they had to endure during the excruciating car ride, and could be trustingly left alone at home, i decided to pay a visit to dc. i've been to the city a few times, but each time only in the neighbourhood of foggy bottom and georgetown, except for the half marathon in march, during which i did run through many streets of the capital, but saw nothing but the patch of gray pavement two feet ahead of me.

today i decided to go out of my comfort zone and ventured to eastern market area. as it turned out, today was neither saturday nor sunday--one tends to lose track when one is not gainfully employed either professionally or domestically--there was not much happening around the market. but it wouldn't have been better had i planned it, there was capitol hill books right across the street.

there were books in every crevice of the building, stacked from floor to ceiling, even the narrow staircase was lined with books. i was so happy to have picked up three of the books i'd been looking for. this place is no doubt my favorite used bookstore for now.

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as you might have guessed, my day wouldn't be complete without a coffee after the books. i went to sidamo coffee and tea, a good half hour's walk from the bookstore. it was a beautiful day in a beautiful neighbourhood. the shop owner seems to be ethiopian, every sunday afternoon there is traditional ethiopian coffee ceremony. i've never heard of such things before. i'll plan well for my next visit so not to miss it. and the market.

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Thu, 05 May 2011 04:00:00 +0000

the cats and i survived another ten-hour drive on monday, with a favorable break in pennsylvania at frank's parents house. the plan was to leave haverhill (which officially is massachusetts' territory but is two minutes' to new hamshire and hours to anywhere in its own state) before eight in the morning, and reach scranton by noon. of course that didn't happen, and it wasn't all the cats' fault. so we arrived at an awkward time of four in the afternoon. the lovely couple nonetheless received us with open arms and whipped up a meal for me just like that. such lovely people.

yesterday and today were spent squeezing every possible cubic inch out of the tiny place that belongs to frank, to accommodate the few boxes of junk that i call mine. now having cozily settled in virginia--the south as they call it, but really, this is still the north--perhaps i can get some real work done. however, the nature of the work and, more importantly, what can be considered 'real' needs to be determined first.

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some more photos from april.

1 - 3: portland, maine

4 - 10: newport, rhode island

11 - 14: martha vineyard, massachusetts

15 & 16: cafe verde, lawrence, massachusetts

17 & 18: haverhill, massachusetts

yet another place to call home: potomac falls, virginia

bunch of grapes and no vineyard

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 14:52:00 +0000

paid a visit to martha's vineyard on friday. it was bitter cold but mercifully the sun was out during the half day we were there. being still off season, the town was quiet and peaceful. everything was so orderly. lawns well tended. streets swept without a speck of dust. every corner turned exactly at 90 degrees.

shops were not quite out of their winter hiatus yet, especially restaurants. the only place that seemed to be oblivious of the lack of tourists was bunch of grapes bookstore where local writers--poets now being national poetry month--were featured. but even here everything was orderly. there was not a single book out of place. perhaps all this will change once memorial day arrives.

happy reading!

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they do exist

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 04:44:00 +0000

old port candy co., portland, maine. april 2011.

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now the world--my world at least--is back to normal, i shall retire myself and stay away from a computer or other types of electronic devices for a while. perhaps i will read a book, or some other forms of printed material ... sleep also sounds enticing.

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 22:47:00 +0000

against my own good judgement i tinkered with files in the root directory that have funny names and hold mysterious responsibilities. the consequence was far less pleasant than i had bargained for. thursday and friday of last week were devoted to coax my portal to the ether world into speaking to me again. by now i'm pleased to announce that other than the unstable wireless connection i'm back to where i was one week ago.

to reward my own hard work saturday i went to town for food therapy. it worked like a charm. now i see the world in beautiful colors again instead of the purplish white that is the defiant cursor of my command line terminal.

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omni parker hotel
polcari's coffee of north end
boston common
thinking cup
lucia of north end
boston, april 2011

the joy of baking

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:40:00 +0000

... and the torture of not having enough calories allowance to consume the whole batch.

lately i'm in a baking fever. have been trying cinnamon rolls to no avail. now i have a laundry-basketful of rock-like rolls. if you know a good recipe, please share, will you?

these biscotti, however, turned out beautifully. here is the recipe i used. they are simple and divine. i do wonder though, if i reduce the amount of butter--so that i can eat more than half a dozen each time, will that take away the heavenliness of these goodies?

harvard square

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 14:14:00 +0000

it was a cold and windy day. i braved it for the lures of books and their stores. if i need a reason to uproot, this might be it.

cambridge, massachusetts.

maine

noreply@blogger.com (aafrica) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 02:55:00 +0000

on sunday afternoon we lingered a bit too long in longfellow books in portland, maine, and just missed two fat cats bakery, where the best whoopie pie is said to be served. so we ended up having a very simply dinner among the early birds at becky's.