34 years ago today...

This guy came into my life.  Things have never been the same.

Happy Birthday, Bro!

Without Bro, I may have never gone to that first Rockapella show at the Troubadour.  I would have never gone to Drum Corps International events.  I would have never accessed that crazy alt.disney.disneyland newsgroup.  I'd be bored, is what I'm saying.  ;)

Many of you all have Bro to thank (or curse) for having me in your lives.  Join me in celebrating him today, won't you?

2 AM

Yay!  New NKOTB video, and I really like this song.  It reminds me of the rotating piano at the show.  Man, I wish I had more money so I could go see them on a boat.

Oh, and LOOK!  It's my Jordan.  Swwwwoooooooon!!!!

A new addition to the Pella/PBS Family

OMG, look at this clip from a new PBS show called "Enviropals."

Do you recognize Safari Stan?

Yay, JKB!!!!!

Obama spoof of Beyonce Single Ladies

Liz's hubby thought that we should see this video, and I thought I'd share it with y'all, too.

The original video being spoofed can be found here.

I wish I could dance at least half as well as her.

Enjoy!

The Birthday Dinners Continue

I spent my first Furlough Friday doing absolutely nothing productive, and felt really guilty about it because I was supposed to at least have the house cleaned before Mo & Lo arrived.  It didn't help that Mo got here early, but at least I was dressed, and she was tolerant of my continued tidying.  

Mo & Lo and I went to BASIL to celebrate my b-day, and I realized that I hadn't been there in a few months.  I had really missed it, and didn't even care that I had Thai food at a business lunch the day before, because I had been really wanting to go to BASIL.  So we ate our yummy food (we are loving the salad with its touch of coconut flakes).  I had Tom Yum soup for the first time and LOVED it.  No wonder I have so many friends that like this stuff!  It's like Filipino Sinigang.  I absolutely had to have my go-to dish, and we had a noodle dish, and all was happy and well.

Mo wasn't feeling her best, so she went home and Lo and I went to see "Slumdog Millionaire."  We enjoyed the movie very much.  I didn't want to eat my m&m's for much of the movie due to some very unappetizing scenes, but I really liked the story.  I like stories about love and destiny anyway, but this movie had a way of telling the story with flashbacks and I liked that a lot.

The next day, Kathie and I went to Todai for Japanese buffet (she had never been, and I was craving Japanese food).  While Kathie was in the restroom, one of the waiters went around to the tables to let us know that the lobster had just been cooked, and we should hurry up and get some before it was gone.  Luckily, Kathie returned to the table shortly thereafter, and we were able to get some lobster.  They had fresh crepes available for dessert, and I opted for strawberries and bananas in mine, with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.  Mmmm....

We went to the movie theater and only saw one movie playing at a convenient time for us.  Since neither of us could remember what "New in Town" was about or the actors involved, we went to Guest Services to view the synopsis and realized that it was the new Renee Zellweger/Harry Connick, Jr. movie.  We were going to go ahead and watch that, but then realized that "The Reader" had started just a few minutes earlier, so we opted for that instead.  Kate Winslet is amazing.  The story itself was quite intriguing.  Neither Kathie nor I could figure out where the affair was leading to, and I kept thinking in my head about a plot point that I thought had been involved.  Then I thought, "Isn't it *this* movie?"  Then it happened and I felt better.  I also had forgotten that my Joseph's bro was in this movie, and when Ralph Fiennes was shown on screen, I almost blurted out loud, "That's Joseph's brother!" but thankfully refrained from my wackiness.  The movie was very well done, and I had guessed what the kid had been in denial about early on, but that didn't make it less emotional for me.  I'm always affected whenever Auschwitz or any concentration camp is shown as it reminds me of a tour we took when I was on a choir tour.  That particular tour made me appreciate my life as an American when I was an idealistic college kid...but that's for another post someday.  Anyway, I was right to avoid this film when I wasn't feeling well last week.  It's quite depressing, and also uplifting.  Does that make sense?  There's also a lot of nudity.  LOTS of it.  So if you can handle all of that in one movie, by all means, go.  I now want to read "The Lady With the Little Dog" by Anton Chekhov.  Maybe you will, too.

So it's February now.  Time to celebrate other people's birthdays.  Thanks, again, everyone, for such memorable evenings.

Sausage & Fries & Boba

I pass through the intersection of First Ave and Foothill Blvd in Arcadia quite often.  The businesses on the southeast corner of the intersection have been pretty steady.  There's a Subway sandwich place, a beauty salon, a doughnut shop that I like to go to when treating myself or my co-workers, a dry cleaner that hasn't been there very long, and a tobacco shop.  There used to be a place that sold Chinese food that I liked but didn't go to a lot.  It closed a little while ago.  Actually the dry cleaner wasn't there until recently, but I don't remember what it was.  Somehow whatever was there before and the old Chinese food place had done some rearranging or something different and became what's there today. 

A few months ago, I noticed a new sign where the Chinese food place used to be that said "Sausage & Fries."  Painted on the window was the word in bubbly letters: "BOBA," and a neon sign that said "Chinese Food."  Now, when the heck did *that* happen?  And when did Chinese Food include Fries?  I was confused.

About a month ago, one of my friends had just had a manicure, and it turned out that she had it done at her usual place, which is the beauty shop by my doughnut place.  I asked her if she ever went into that Sausage & Fries place.  She said, "Yes, I get Chinese Food there whenever I go to the beauty salon."  I told her that I used to get food there sometimes, too, but hadn't been there for a long time.  I asked her, "Do they have sausage & fries?"  She said no.  I didn't understand.  She said that she thinks that there was supposed to be a new place there but it didn't actually happen, but the sign was still there.  Oh, OK.  I still wanted to try their TCB sometime.

So today I had a craving for TCB, and also wanted to get some lunch, so I thought of Sausage & Fries or whatever it's supposed to be called.  I arrived at the restaurant at about 2:30 p.m., and there was no Chinese food.  APPARENTLY, it was too late in the day to have the food sitting out, and too early to cook for dinner.  But lo and behold, on the menu on the wall above were a whole bunch of types of sausage!  OK, so my friend, obviously blinded by the Chinese food whenever she went there, never noticed the menu above the cashier's head.  I can't blame her.  I find that I don't look up a lot myself, and tend to miss stuff.  Never mind that she's taller than me.

Anyway, I got excited about the sausage menu, and due to the absence of Chinese food, I forgot all about it.  They have all different kiinds of sausages, from "Old Fashioned Hot Dog" to Hot Links to Andouille.  They have corn dogs, chili dogs, burgers, and different types of fries.  One of the types caught my eye: Garlic Fries.  They also have "Meat Balls Fries,"  which I didn't ask about, but you can get them made of beef, tendon beef, pork, and fish.  They only have one type of soup, which is clam chowder.  

So I ordered a Santa Fe Turkey Sausage w/Jalapenos & Jack Cheese, some Garlic Fries, and a Thai Tea w/TCB.  I talked to the gal who took my order, and I guess that she's the owner.  She said that they are not the same people that owned the Chinese food place before.  She asked if I was going to eat there, but I asked for it To Go.  As I was waiting and watching Hawaii Five-O, I drank my refreshing tea.  A guy came into the restaurant, trying to sell a camera in a camera case as well as an i-pod.  I said no thanks, and thought to myself, "I should have asked him if he had a bag."  Then I texted Liz because I was giggling at my thought and needed to share it with her.  It's her fault, you know.

When my order was ready, I noted that the garlic fries smelled REALLY good.  She asked me to taste one before she packed my food.  YUM.  She was going to give me a fork, and was concerned that I wasn't going to eat them all right away and the fries would get soft, but I assured her that I lived close by and would hurry home to eat them.  It was nice of her to be concerned, though.  She said she'd see me again.  No, she didn't ask.  She knew I'd be back.  I should have told her to add Sweet Potato Fries, and I'd be back immediately.

The sausage tasted good, too.  The bread of the bun was nice and soft, and the sausage was topped with bell peppers and onions.  The seasoning of jalapenos and jack cheese was actually inside the sausage.  I didn't really need all of the onions, as the sausage itself had plenty of flavoring.  I did enjoy my food, and recommend it if you're looking for a good hot dog.  I definitely recommend it if you're in the mood for garlic fries.  The garlic is abundant, and it is mixed with parsley (I think.  It was green, and I don't remember it having the taste of cilantro, but there was a LOT of garlic, so I was concentrating on that, I guess).

Maybe one day I'll go for the Chinese food.

Sausage & Fries

106 E Foothill Blvd

Arcadia, CA  91006

(626)373-6530

Open 7 days a week, 10AM - 10PM